Mohamed Ali, the hard-nosed journalist behind the Jicho Pevu investigative series, is walking out of journalism. The KTN journalist, orphaned after the resignation of his investigative partner John All-namu and producer Kassim Mohamed, has decided to contest for the Nyali constituency parliamentary seat in 2017.
Moha, as he is known among his fans, will be contesting on an ODM ticket. He says he has been driven to into politics by the “need to fight Injustice this time through legislation.” As evidenced in the photo above Moha has been cozy with the ODM leader Raila Odinga and he hopes to ride the party’s wave in the coastal region to win the Nyali seat.
He recently publicly expressed his admiration for opposition leader Raila Odinga. In an article published by The Standard on Friday, December 11, Ali showered the former prime minister with praises likening him to Tanzania’s new President John Magufuli.
“Sura ya Magufuli Kenya ni Raila Odinga. Kenya sasa yahitaji Raila kuchukua ushukani na kuikomboa Kenya kutoka kwa vijana toka kwa janga la Jubilee. Kukwamua taifa toka kwa uongozi ulioibaka demokrasia ya wakenya na Kenya kwa jumla… Huyu ndiye Magufuli wa Kenya mwaka wa 2017 (Raila is Kenya’s Magufuli. Kenya needs Raila to take the wheel and save the country from the Jubilee scourge),” he wrote.
Mohamed Ali journalist has been at loggerheads with top Jubilee officials, especially Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, who see him as a threat to national security. “He (Moha Jicho Pevu) has been portraying the security in the negative and the Al-Shabaab in the positive. He shows Al-Shabaab training and our people in the opposite,” the minister said.
The Standard Group employee had also claimed that some government officials were running a campaign and using religion to portray him as a terrorist-sympathiser.Curiously, his employer, The Standard Group, has not come out in his defense leaving the slim journalist to fight off his opponents alone.
Moha is expected to resign from KTN soon and start preparations for the contest ahead of elections in August next year. Perhaps it’s the right time to exit the scene as his reputation has been on the wane after the massive grave expose that turned out empty.
Also, without Allan-Namu and the producer, he has lost strong pillars in his work and may not make a mark on his own. He refused to apologise over the mass graves story. This came just a day after Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery demanded an apology from Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow, journalists Yassin Juma and Moha Jicho Pevu for the Mandera mass grave allegations.
“This young man called Mohammed Ali has the habit of permanently putting the security organs of this country at the expense of Al-Shabaab,” said Nkaissery.
He now wants to put his hawk eyes to use in Parliament.
